Doug Dumais
Circulations
February 26, 2024 - May 25, 2024
TD Art Corridor
Charlottetown Library Learning Centre
97 Queen Street
Charlottetown, PE
This Town is Small and the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre are pleased to present Circulations, a solo exhibition by Doug Dumais.
From 1933 to 1936, Nora Bateson, a librarian hired by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, journeyed across Prince Edward Island to establish the foundations of a regional library system. Before 1933, PEI had only three libraries. Thanks to Bateson’s advocacy and the significant community support she received, by 1936, there were twenty-two. Nearly 90 years later, artist Doug Dumais repeated Bateson’s travels, photographing all twenty- five PEI libraries. The exhibition Circulations presents seven images from these journeys overlaid with text, stickers, and labels from scans of book jackets borrowed from the library system. The pairings are either thematic (W. G. Sebald’s Austerlitz, 2001), historical (Morell: It’s History, 1980), or political (Nora Bateson’s Rural Canada Needs Libraries, 1944). These images unveil the uniqueness and adaptability of each library, highlighting their significance within their respective communities. Transformed into visual narratives resembling book covers, Dumais’ photographs compel viewers to look beyond surfaces, suggesting that libraries are not just places but texts that reflect the history and community they serve.
Doug Dumais is a photographer based in Charlottetown, Epekwitk/PEI. Dumais holds a bachelor of humanities and art history from Carleton University (2017) and a master’s degree in art history from Concordia University (2019). He has exhibited at The Guild, this town is small, Eptek Cultural Centre, the City of Ottawa Art Gallery, Fais moi l’art, ARTCH, and Galerie La Castiglione. His work has been acquired by the City of Ottawa and the PEI Art Bank.
To see more of Dumais’ photographs from PEI libraries, visit: dougdumais.com/circulations
This project was made possible thanks to Innovation PEI’s Arts Grants Funding.
This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the City of Charlottetown, and Innovation PEI through the PEI Culture Action Plan.